Abortion pills cost between $299 and $640 at most providers, though the national median for out-of-pocket medication abortion is $563. Your actual price depends on where you get them, whether you have insurance, and which state you live in.
What the Pills Typically Cost
At brick-and-mortar clinics and hospitals across the United States, the median out-of-pocket cost for a medication abortion in the first trimester was $563 in 2023, according to KFF’s survey of all abortion-providing facilities. That’s compared to $650 for a procedural abortion during the same period. At individual clinics, prices can be higher. Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania, for example, lists the abortion pill at $640 for patients paying out of pocket.
Telehealth services tend to be cheaper. Hey Jane, one of the larger online providers, charges $299 to $499 on a sliding scale based on income, and some patients with insurance or financial assistance pay nothing. These services mail the pills directly to you after a virtual consultation, cutting out the costs of an in-person visit. Pricing varies between telehealth platforms, but most fall in that $200 to $500 range.
How Insurance Affects the Price
If your insurance covers abortion, you may pay little to nothing out of pocket. Twenty-one states use their own Medicaid funds to cover all or most medically necessary abortions, including Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. If you’re enrolled in Medicaid in one of these states, the cost could be zero.
Private insurance is more complicated. As of January 2026, 25 states prohibit abortion coverage in ACA Marketplace plans. States like Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska only allow state-regulated private plans to cover abortion when the pregnant person’s life is at risk. Texas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, North Dakota, and Oklahoma have near-total abortion bans and also restrict private insurance from covering the procedure. Utah goes a step further by prohibiting insurers from even offering an add-on abortion coverage rider, leaving no path to covered care through private plans regulated by the state.
If your plan doesn’t cover abortion, you shoulder the full cost yourself. That’s a significant barrier: prior analysis has found that 43% of women ages 18 to 49 couldn’t handle a $500 emergency expense from savings alone.
Costs Beyond the Pills
The sticker price of the medication is only part of the equation for many people. If you live in a state with a ban or severe restrictions, you may need to travel out of state for care. Nearly one in five abortion patients now crosses state lines to access services. That means gas or airfare, possibly a hotel, missed wages, and childcare if you have kids. These indirect costs add up quickly and can rival or exceed the price of the pills themselves.
Even within states where abortion is legal, getting to a clinic can be expensive if you live in a rural area. Some patients drive several hours each way for an initial appointment and a follow-up. Telehealth services eliminate much of this travel burden when they’re available in your state, since the pills arrive by mail and follow-up happens over video or phone.
Financial Help That’s Available
Several layers of financial assistance exist for people who can’t afford the full cost. Many clinics offer their own internal funds or sliding-scale pricing based on income. Hey Jane, for instance, automatically applies income-based pricing to uninsured patients.
Beyond clinic discounts, local abortion funds operate in nearly every state. These grassroots organizations can help cover the procedure itself plus travel, lodging, and other logistics. The National Abortion Federation (NAF) Hotline also connects callers with income-based discounts at member clinics. Demand for this kind of support has increased substantially since many state bans took effect, and funds report higher need in both restrictive and non-restrictive states.
If Medicaid covers abortion in your state, clinic-based income discounts typically aren’t available, because the government insurance is expected to pick up the cost. But if you’re in one of those 21 states and qualify for Medicaid, you’re likely looking at free or near-free care already. The people who fall through the gap are those earning too much for Medicaid but too little to absorb a $500-plus expense, living in a state that restricts both public and private coverage.